By Joseph Dempsey /
1. Black Books
Airing between 2000 and 2004, Black Books joined Spaced in a "golden era" for sitcoms on Channel 4 and, according to the audio commentary for
Shaun of the Dead, was considered by the producers to be a sister show of the 1999 sitcom. Following nihilistic bookshop owner Bernard Black (Dylan Moran), his unfortunate assistant Manny (Bill Bailey) and long-term friend and even occasional love interest Fran Katzenjammer (Tamsin Greig), Black Books centres around an independent book shop in London and focuses on Bernard's belligerent and openly hostile attitude toward Manny and even his customers. Much of the show's success centred around the wonderful performances from the lovable yet at the same time detestable Bernard Black-played Moran, as illustrated by the fact Bernard Black was voted 19th in Channel 4's "The World's Greatest Comedy Characters". The show even managed to find a way for viewers to feel sorry for Bernard, despite his hostile personality, when it was revealed near the show's end his fiancé died before they could become married, only for the tender revelation to Manny to then descend into comedy when it was revealed she had faked her own death to avoid marrying him. Featuring a plethora of special gusts stars such as Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Johnny Vegas and Olivia Coleman, Black Books will go down as one of the greatest comedies ever produced for channel 4. Dylan Moran has today forged a career out of stand-up comedy and has also appeared in
Run Fat Boy Run alongside Pegg, while Bill Bailey also enjoys a career as a stand-up comedian. Tamsin Greig can today be seen in Green Wing.
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